Top Cow Productions, Inc. wants your votes for Pilot Season 2010, and to ensure fans can be educated voters, they are offering readers the opportunity to read all the contenders for this year’s Pilot Season for free. In addition, the publisher invites fans to join them at this week’s Bagged and Boarded LIVE! at the SModCastle in Los Angeles to hear their pleas.

Up until the end of the voting period on November 30, 2010, 39 Minutes, Asset, Crosshair, Forever, and 7 Days From Hell will be available for free through many of Top Cow’s digital distribution partners including Wowio, MyDigitalComics.com, DriveThruComics.com, with more to come, as well as through select comic book and pop culture news sites like Comic Book Resources and Newsarama.

To further make their case, Asset writer and Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik, Crosshair writer Jeff Katz, Forever creator and Top Cow President Matt Hawkins and 7 Days From Hell writer Rob Levin will join Bagged and Boarded’s Matt Cohen and Brendan Creecy at the SModCastle (6468 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA). Tickets to the show are available for purchase here: http://smodcastle.com/tickets.html. If fans are unable to attend the live show, the show will be available online shortly after its recording, or fans can head to the Top Cow YouTube page for video pleas from the creators themselves.

Polling stations are now set up at the Top Cow site (www.topcow.com) with additional polling stations to appear on various comics news sites, blogs and social media platforms. Readers can vote multiple times a day up until the polls close on November 30, 2010.

Pilot Season is an annual initiative Top Cow began in 2007 that borrows its concept from the television industry: “Pilots” are submitted for consideration to be “picked up for a season,” except instead of TV executives deciding their fates; it’s the fans who decide by voting online.

Previous winners of Pilot Season include: Cyblade, Velocity, Twilight Guardian, and Genius. Velocity can currently be found at your local comic book shop shelves, with Twilight Guardian and Genius debuting in 2011.

For more information on Pilot Season and to vote, go to www.topcow.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 28, 2010 – With Halloween weekend upon us, join Top Cow Productions, Inc. in their home city of Los Angeles at the second annual Long Beach Comic Con, October 29-31, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Meet the Top Cow team and creators at booth #212 for convention exclusives, preview books and free goodies, and celebrate the success of this year’s action-packed event series Artifacts, launch of Echoes and the kick-off of the Pilot Season 2010 voting period with them.

Fans who stop by the booth will be among the first to launch the Pilot Season 2010 voting period. At voting stations, attendees can decide who deserves a series of their own: a group of bank robbers, a femme fatale of the digital age, a former assassin for the CIA, a doctor working at a pharmaceutical company, or an ex-pat who made a del with a demon. Several creators for this year’s Pilot Season will be on-hand to sway your vote.

Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik is hosting a panel on Saturday, October 30, Top Cow: We Create…Competition, at 3:00-3:45pm in Seaside Ballroom B. Join Sablik and a host of Top Cow creators as he walks attendees through what the Cow has in store for you in 2011, including the next arc in Artifacts and Magdalena, Top Cow mainstays Witchblade and The Darkness, what’s coming out first at Minotaur Press, and more. Panelists include Broussard, Mitchell, Levin, Fialkov, Ekedal and Loverd. All attendees will receive a free gift!

At the Top Cow booth #212, the publisher will have the following new products available for fans: Witchblade #139 Long Beach Comic Con exclusive cover by Randy Queen and Sarah Queen, two Halloween lithographs by the Queens and Stjepan Sejic. Additionally, Top Cow will have several exclusive trade paperback bellyband packages.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 1, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today the publisher will be exhibiting at New York Comic-Con, the East Coast’s biggest and most exciting comic convention brought together in the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan, New York from October 8-10th.

Meet the Top Cow team and creators at booth #2129 for convention exclusives, preview books and free goodies, and celebrate the success of this year’s action-packed event series Artifacts and the relaunch of Rest with them.

Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik is hosting a panel on Saturday, October 9th, “Top Cow: We Create…Events,” at 1:15pm-2:15pm in Room 1A06. Joining Sablik will be Marz and Broussard to discuss the runaway event success Artifacts. Also joining the panel will be television and movie star Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes) and his producing partner Russ Cundiff of DiVide Pictures to talk about the return of Rest. Plus, a special appearance by American Original’s Jeff Katz (Pilot Season: Crosshair) with more exciting news from GeekWeek.com and American Original to share. Find out why at Top Cow, we create.

Following the panel, Ventimiglia and Cundiff will be joined by Rest writer Mark Powers, Rest artist Marco Castiello and Berserker artist Jeremy Haun in the convention’s main signing area. In order to participate in the signing session, NYCC attendees must attend the Top Cow panel to get a ticket for the signing and must purchase either a Rest or Berserker item at the signing.

At the Top Cow booth #2129, the publisher will have the following new products available for fans: Artifacts #2 New York Comic-Con exclusive cover by Stjepan Sejic, Witchblade #138 New York Comic-Con exclusive cover by Stjepan Sejic and the Rest New York Comic-Con Exclusive Hardcover. Additionally, Top Cow will have several exclusive trade paperback bellyband packages and brand new exclusive lithographs.

For more updates on Top Cow at New York Comic-Con, you can follow Top Cow on Twitter @TopCow or visit us at www.topcow.com.

About Top Cow Productions Inc.

Top Cow Productions, Inc. (www.topcow.com), a Los Angeles-based entertainment company, was founded in December of 1992 by artist Marc Silvestri, who also co-founded Image Comics earlier that same year. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades. Its flagship franchise, WITCHBLADE, was TNT’s #1 original film of 2000 and the subsequent TV series was released on DVD on July 29, 2008. WITCHBLADE is also the first American property to be fully adapted in Japan as an original anime and manga by Studio GONZO in 2006. Top Cow’s other flagship property, THE DARKNESS, was developed into a major next-generation video game release by Starbreeze and 2K Games and achieved platinum sales status. WANTED, an Eisner-nominated miniseries published by Top Cow from 2003-2005, is now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. Virtually all of Top Cow’s other properties are in development as feature films, live-action television, animation or video games. Top Cow has also successfully licensed and merchandised its franchises into toys, statues, clothing, lithographs, puppets, posters, magnets, shot glasses, lighters, lunch pails, wall scrolls, mouse pads, die-cast cars, calendars, Christmas ornaments, Halloween masks, trading cards, standees, video games and roleplaying games.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., September 16, 2010 – Top Cow Productions, Inc. proudly announced today that first title off of the 2010 Pilot Season slate will arrive in stores next week on September 22nd, 2010. Pilot Season 2010 debuts a new format consisting of five new concepts and five different creative teams released in a span of five weeks. In support of Pilot Season 2010, stateside creators will be embarking on a signing tour coinciding with their pilot’s release.

“Pilot Season is an ideal event for us to schedule signing events around because of the wide variety of talent we have participating each year,” explained Publisher Filip Sablik. “This year is no different with established talent like Marc Silvestri, Jeff Katz, and Phil Noto along side exciting up-and-comers like Jerry Lando, David Marquez, and the dynamic duo of Hill and Levin. We’re all getting out on the campaign trail to win the hearts and minds of our voting public!”

Pilot Season: 39 Minutes’ William Harms and Jerry Lando will kick off the launch of Pilot Season 2010 next week in Las Vegas and Philadelphia, respectively.

ICv2 to Host Comics and Media Conference in Association with San Diego Comic-Con International
Jeph Loeb to Deliver Keynote, Mike Mignola in “Comics after Hollywood”

SAN DIEGO- June 15, 2009. Pop culture publishing and consulting company ICv2 has announced that it will host the ICv2 Comics and Media Conference: Building Connections on Wednesday, July 22nd, in conjunction with San Diego Comic-Con International.

“Comics are increasingly the raw material for films, TV shows, and videogames and vice versa, and San Diego is where that all comes together,” ICv2 President Milton Griepp said. “We wanted to create a conference where writers and artists; publishers; producers of films, TV shows, and videogames; agents and managers; licensing pros; retailers; and librarians and educators can all come together to talk about what’s happening and about how to expand this incredibly productive cross-fertilization.”

The ICv2 Comics and Media Conference, a ticketed half-day event, will be held at the San Diego Marriott, next to the San Diego Convention Center, on Wednesday afternoon, July 22nd, from 1 to 5 p.m., just before Preview Night at Comic-Con. Comic-Con is assisting with promotion and logistics for the event.

Confirmed speakers and panelists include film, TV, and comics writer Jeph Loeb, who will deliver the keynote address for the event; Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, who will participate in the discussion of Comics after Hollywood; and businesspeople from the worlds of comics, film, TV, and videogames, with more speakers still being added.

Confirmed Sessions:

Keynote Address

Comics and Media Case Studies

Comics and the IP Life Cycle

Comics after Hollywood

Confirmed Speakers, Panelists, Moderators:

Nick Barrucci, Dynamite Entertainment

Robin Brenner, author, librarian

Milton Griepp, ICv2

Matt Hawkins, Top Cow

Rick Jacobs, Circle of Confusion

Jeff Katz, American Original

Jeph Loeb, writer for film, TV, and comics

Tom Mclean, writer for Variety, Animation

Mike Mignola, writer, artist, creator of Hellboy

Joe Nozemack, Oni Press

PW Comicsweek and The Beat by Heidi MacDonald, two publications of Publisher’s Weekly, have signed on to sponsor the conference.

The Beat

The Beat by Heidi MacDonald is a news blog of comics culture in which MacDonald delivers her own brand of coverage on the world of comics.

ICv2 covers the business world of comics and graphic novels, specialty DVDs, tabletop games, and movie and TV licensed products on its Website, ICv2.com, and in its magazine, the ICv2 Insider’s Guide.
For more information, click here. To register, click here.

Studio executive, producer and comic book author Jeff Katz (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, FREDDY VS. JASON, SNAKES ON A PLANE, BOOSTER GOLD) has launched American Original, a new entertainment company that will provide content across multiple platforms geared to the growing genre consumer base as well as provide services to genre creators themselves, it was announced today. The newly launched entity will consist of multiple divisions, including publishing and film & television production, all operating under the American Original banner.

Katz, a former Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema who oversaw production of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, is one of the leading players in Hollywood’s genre community. Targeting the savvy genre audience, which has become one of the most lucrative and desired markets in Hollywood, American Original–playfully referred by Katz as the â€˜Nerd Machine,’ will stand as a credible and authentic voice for the comic industry and its fans within the Hollywood community while creating the genre production business model of the future.

“The genre audience has been derisively labeled with a variety of names – â€˜fanboys,’ â€˜geeks,’ and the like. The word that I would use is â€˜winners,’ said Katz. “While the bad news is that we are only a niche, the good news is that the future of entertainment is a future built on niches. This audience is expanding and is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the new entertainment model. We are, by our very nature, the early adopters that generate the most sought after quality in Hollywood today – pre-awareness.”

One of the first two divisions to be launched, American Original Press, will join forces with Top Cow Productions, the comic book publisher behind last summer’s hit WANTED and the highly successful video game THE DARKNESS, to seed IP for distribution across all entertainment platforms.

Via a strategic partnership with Top Cow, American Original Press will publish up to 10 titles per year with a goal of building a print library to develop those properties across film, television, Internet and gaming platforms. Katz will own and produce all titles under the American Original label, with Top Cow’s Matt Hawkins and Marc Silvestri exec producing select titles. Additionally, transporting the old model of the comic publishing business into the 21st century, American Original Press is the first publishing house of its kind to offer creative talent a percentage of the gross revenues over the life of the IP.

“When Jeff first quit his cushy job at Fox in this economic climate I thought he was crazy,” said Top Cow President Matt Hawkins. “Then he told me his plan and I knew immediately that Marc Silvestri and I wanted in. Jeff is one of those kinetically charismatic and driven guys that you want to be in business with. We believe in his vision of the future and look forward to working together to push the new model forward.”

The second division, American Original Entertainment, will focus on developing original and adapted film and television properties and presenting them to the marketplace. Ben Austin, a veteran of Fine Line, New Line and Fox, has come aboard as Director of Development at American Original Entertainment, the production arm of the American Original label.

American Original has also assembled an Advisory Board, which includes comic genre veterans Richard Donner and Ralph Winter, and former New Line distribution chief David Tuckerman.

Over the next few weeks, American Original will be announcing additional executive hires as well as creative partners across a wide range of media, culminating in the official American Original launch panel at this year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego.

A college dropout driven by a childhood love of genre films and comic books, Katz, 30, has established himself as one of the leading names in Hollywood’s genre community after only a decade in Los Angeles. Katz started in the world of talk radio at age 15 followed by a three-year-stint with Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling. Eventually dropping out of Michigan State after his freshman year, he called upon his childhood hero and pen pal, New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye and secured a position at New Line as an unpaid intern.

Katz quickly rose through the ranks at New Line, becoming an executive at the ripe age of 24 with the release of the long-gestating horror crossover FREDDY VS. JASON, which grossed $36.4M in its opening weekend, then the highest horror film opening of all time. At New Line, Katz rose to Vice President of Production by age 27 and oversaw development and production on films ranging from the cult hit SNAKES ON A PLANE with Samuel L. Jackson and the current cable television stalwart SHOOT ‘EM UP with Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti.

In 2007, Katz went to Twentieth Century Fox as Vice President of Production and was thrust into development of the X-MEN movie universe. Katz oversaw production of the tentpole release X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE starring Hugh Jackman, which grossed a whopping $160M in worldwide box office last weekend.

It was during his time at New Line that Katz embarked on a successful second career as a comic book writer with his first work published by Image Comics in the 2005 anthology THE WICKED WEST. In 2007, Katz signed on to the biggest success of his comic book career, BOOSTER GOLD with DC Comics. Teaming with comic book superstar Geoff Johns, Katz’s run on BOOSTER GOLD was an unexpected success both critically and commercially, putting Katz on the map in a second industry. While on location in Australia the Katz-created horror crossover mini-series FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH (the unofficial sequel to FREDDY VS. JASON) became a hit for Wildstorm & Dynamite and a sequel mini-series based on a story by Katz titled FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH II – THE NIGHTMARE WARRIORS begins shipping in June. Katz was recently named one of the “9 to watch in ’09” by Newsarama, one of the top comics sites on the web.

Over the years, Katz has further solidified his status as a leading genre authority, appearing prominently in the successful genre documentaries GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE & FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM, HALLOWEEN: 25 YEARS OF TERROR and HIS NAME WAS JASON. He was also honored as the youngest member of the Hollywood Reporter’s prestigious “Next Generation” Class of 2007, recognizing his unique credibility in both film and comics. In autumn of 2008, with post-production on X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE well underway, Katz shocked the genre community in the movie industry by resigning his position at 20th Century Fox, which he did to lay the groundwork for what he calls “a new model for a new time.”